Roping is perhaps one of the oldest skills practiced by those engaged in cattle ranching operations. It remains a vital skill for those involved in handling cattle on the open range and in other settings, even in the most modern of ranching operations.
Interest in developing roping skills and in roping competition has also steadily increased, particularly with the advent of rodeo and jackpot team roping, which has become one of the more popular forms of equestrian competition. Currently, over a hundred thousand team ropers compete each year for millions of dollars in prize money. These competitions are held throughout the West, Mid-West and Southern States.
Team roping is a form of roping that involves one team member, the header, roping the head and the other team member, the heeler, roping the hind legs of the steer. Because of the highly competitive nature of this event, a high level of proficiency involving split second timing is required for the header. The high level of proficiency required can only be developed through a considerable amount of repetitive practice.
Because there is only a limited number of practice animals and limited facilities for practicing, finding opportunities to practice roping skills on live animals is difficult. Furthermore, obtaining and maintaining a collection of livestock and a large arena with the required facilities is very costly. Also, it is very difficult to make efficient use of one's time in practicing with live animals. Accordingly, there has long been a need for alternative means for practice and training.
Training devices of various kinds have been developed through the years to assist in the training of headers. Since most headers prefer to rope just the horns of the steer, a simple training device is a set of horns that can be affixed to a bale of hay or some other anchoring object. However, because in competition a heeler must wait until the header has roped the head of the steer, heelers require a device that allows them to practice timing and roping moving heels. Another simple device may include a dummy steer head, with dimensions approximating a typical steer head and with horns of a fixed length. Such devices may be mounted on a mobile object such as an all terrain vehicle (ATV) or a simulated steer pulled behind a motor vehicle to provide for some in-motion training from horseback.
Such devices provide an alternative means for practicing steer head roping without the use of live animals. However, even though existing devices may be mounted on mobile platforms, the existing devices do not closely simulate the movement of a live animal.